Bear Attack- The Urban Bear, is the first of three installations by emerging artist, Suzy Kellems Dominik, deconstructing human interaction. Bear Attack is a beauty-wrapped trip to the shadow world, into the subversive nature of and intensions surrounding male/female relations. It is an indictment of the state of play and the institutionalized acceptance of the tragic, often convoluted, and very public outcome of the urban bear attack.

A national park sign that suzy read while hiking in Jackson, wy said, “Be alert. Make noise. Carry bear spray. Avoid hiking alone. Do not run," which stirred suzy's fertile imagination to the moment when men are changeling and the bear walks amongst us. To capture this terrifying moment, suzy penned an essay, which served as the genesis for bear attack-the urban bear. Suzy states "terror is explored through three phases of a young woman's life: college, young adult, and established woman". Despite the young woman's intelligence, worldliness and command of her environment, she is unable to protect herself emotionally and/or physically from the insidious nature of the "Bear". Love, hope, desire, need, and longing are perverted to something dangerous, terrifying, and unexpected. This perversion prevents our innocent, along with the viewer, from understanding the danger until it is far too late.

#BEARATTACK

The multi-sensory installation integrates a large-scale photographic triptych, the written word, a multi-layered soundtrack, video, taxidermy, and “the cabinet of curiosities” (accoutrements of the “urban bear”).